This is a cool build for sure. I've read about Gestalt multiclassing and this seems like it would be a great build to incorporate something like that since you have to wait for many of the features to all come together. These two subclasses seem kind of made for each other.
Even after looking through so much info on this build on reddit and various forums, your video had tons of great optimization ideas I didn't find elsewhere. And you explained everything very well with a good sense of humor. Thanks for the help.
I recently played a BM / SB and I gotta say only taking 3 rogue to get to SB is the way. Extra attack makes all the difference. I would make sure though that folks looking to do this make sure they talk to their DM to make sure they understand how Sneak Attack actually works. Mine unfortunately wouldn't allow me to get Sneak Attack using my reaction. I was using Riposte, Feinting Attack, and Ambusher. I later switched Ambusher for Tripping Attack which worked out better. I did Duelist, with a breast plate and buckler.
I would actually disagree to some degree. Extra Attack is definitely the key to unlocking the Swashbuckler's toolkit. But given that Swashbucklers can do their Sneak Attack damage even without advantage, you want to pump those dice up whenever possible. There are two level splits I recommend for pretty much any Fighter/Rogue multiclass, and they're both 13 of one and 7 of the other. Breaking down which levels to take when is important, but if you're going to 20, 13/7 is the way to go. I usually advocate for Rogue 13/Fighter 7, since that will get you as many ASIs as going straight Fighter all the way through. That being said, if you want to attack more, Fighter 13 gets you the third attack in the Extra Attack feature. You could get another ASI if you went Fighter 12/Rogue 8, but most subclasses in this split have pretty decent 13th level features, so I advocate the 13/7 split, usually in favor of Rogue for their Sneak Attack dice.
Thanks for sharing. When deciding whether to start Level 1 as fighter or rogue, we may need to look at the other party members. Their mix can often miss out on useful skills, and starting rogue offers extra skill proficiencies. This may not always play out in combat, but it could make adventuring more successful and safer. And that is just one scenario. Other situations will greatly benefit from starting with fighter.
I'd lean more towards starting as a Rogue first for the extra skills, then going into fighter shortly after and trying to get Medium Armor Master Feat asap for the +3 Dex mod to AC and removing disadvantage from stealth in medium armor. Then try getting Breastplate or Halfplate and a shield soon so you can max out your AC against all those attacks you'd be getting with this build.
6,8 and 10 will be really fun levels. I was worried that you were not going to mention feats when you just flew by stat bumps. I should have known better. Precision attack is amazing if you hate to miss as much as I do. If you don't hit your damage is zero. Loved the video.
nice build! i pretty much agree with most of the choices except mobile. i'd consider replacing that with martial adept and fighting initiate: superior technique for more martial arts dice. picking a maneuver like quick toss (make an attack with your bonus action) gives you another option for an off-turn sneak attack that doesn't rely on your enemy doing anything since you can sneak attack with your bonus action with a throwing weapon then ready your action to sneak attack on the next turn that comes up. since you're also melee attacking just once and playing a swashbuckler, might as well get magic initiate: find familiar and booming blade. i think a better alternative for battlemaster if you know the campaign will have a lot of large+ creatures is going giant killer hunter ranger. that should give you a sustainable version for off-turn sneak attack whether the enemy hits or misses you (hunter) or if the enemy attacks your ally (sentinel). choosing ranger means you still have a fighting style, another expertise, favored foe + zephyr strike or hunter's mark to add to your dmg along with some good ranger spells like goodberry and speak with animals free 1/day.
Panache + Maneuver: Commanding Presence. I'd grab Linguist over Alert, to grab either as many generic OR exotic languages as possible, depending on setting.
Very few languages are helpful for communication in D&D, because the vast majority of creatures who can communicate either speak common or a couple other languages like giant. Most languages only aid you in reading. And with communication and reading, casters often have workarounds. Also, intelligence really doesn't do much for this character aside potentially bump investigation a tiny bit, and that's only if you invest in intelligence in the first place. That said, this is just from an optimization standpoint. If it fits your character or a niche that makes you happy, go for it.
@@SmugslyTV Yeah, you could magic it. There's the Outlands Envoy who learns Tongues. I just like advocating & stockpiling language builds, mundanely. There's also a background feature, Anthropologist, that you could get away with mundanely.
One idea I had was some how obtaining booming blade from a feat or racial option. Then when you attack them they take extra booming blade and sneak attack damage, they stay put or they chase you triggering booming blade damage and you can use brace to get more sneak attack damage, and you can slip away because of rakish audacity.
I see this video is 2 years old, so dont know if ill get a response. Would you use booming blade with this build and if so how would you work it in. I know you want try to sneak attack more than anything.
If you wanted to go eldritch knight instead of battlemaster or arcane trickster instead of swashbuckler, those would be easy ways to add booming blade. You could also use feats or 1 level multi-classes in wizard, sorcerer, or warlock. I like idea of using booming blade if you're planning on moving around the battlefield a bunch, or if you only have 1 attack. Once you start getting extra attack, booming blade can start to fall behind (although it comes back again at higher levels, once you start adding more 2 or 3 die + the potential move). One thing about this build too, is that if you did use booming blade with it, you could consider taking warcaster (I probably wouldn't bother unless I had enough levels in my casting class to make it worthwhile), because then you can use a cantrip instead of an opportunity attack. That cantrip can just be booming blade, which gives you the ability to sneak attack on someone else's turn but do it with booming blade which is even more damage, and now since they're moving they can take the 2nd instance of booming blade damage too. The problem is though, unless you have a reliable way to proc opportunity attacks (say Sentinel feat as an example), your DM may just never have them move. Also, you're getting pretty feat heavy. That all said though, it's certainly doable. Great question.
I think Shield Master deserves a mention for those who want to rock Heavy Armor and not pursue Rogue past 3. For starters, you don’t need Trip Attack as much. You can take an Expertise in Athletics to bolster your chance to knockdown enemies AND can use a Pseudo pushing attack You also get better dex saves to help patch up the lack of Evasion. Initiative isn’t an issue either because you’re adding Charisma to Initiative. And shove is still an attack so Rakish still procks.
didn't get that rakish audacity still procs? did you mean you can sneak attack with a shove? sure shield master deserves a mention though imo any build with extra attack wont need it as they can simply shove prone with their extra attack and keep the bonus action free for other stuff like cunning action. there's also better feats to lose out on as the opportunity cost.
Yes bonus action shield shove with athletics expertise. Brace when they come back Not sure how/why heavy armor applies All versions of this build could take this
@@TheRobversion1they don’t need cunning action for much. Swashbuckler already gets to move away without AoO. Better use of bonus action to free shove prone etc Keep second attack for more damage or getting sneak when you miss.
This is a cool build for sure. I've read about Gestalt multiclassing and this seems like it would be a great build to incorporate something like that since you have to wait for many of the features to all come together. These two subclasses seem kind of made for each other.
3:36 I was not expecting a shout out when I started this video! lol :D
Even after looking through so much info on this build on reddit and various forums, your video had tons of great optimization ideas I didn't find elsewhere. And you explained everything very well with a good sense of humor. Thanks for the help.
Glad I could help!
I recently played a BM / SB and I gotta say only taking 3 rogue to get to SB is the way. Extra attack makes all the difference. I would make sure though that folks looking to do this make sure they talk to their DM to make sure they understand how Sneak Attack actually works. Mine unfortunately wouldn't allow me to get Sneak Attack using my reaction. I was using Riposte, Feinting Attack, and Ambusher. I later switched Ambusher for Tripping Attack which worked out better. I did Duelist, with a breast plate and buckler.
That is horseshit of your DM to do that, the rules are pretty clear Riposte would let you do sneak attack. Oh well.
Why Breastplate? Where you going a str route?
So you did 3/17 ?
I would actually disagree to some degree. Extra Attack is definitely the key to unlocking the Swashbuckler's toolkit. But given that Swashbucklers can do their Sneak Attack damage even without advantage, you want to pump those dice up whenever possible. There are two level splits I recommend for pretty much any Fighter/Rogue multiclass, and they're both 13 of one and 7 of the other. Breaking down which levels to take when is important, but if you're going to 20, 13/7 is the way to go. I usually advocate for Rogue 13/Fighter 7, since that will get you as many ASIs as going straight Fighter all the way through. That being said, if you want to attack more, Fighter 13 gets you the third attack in the Extra Attack feature. You could get another ASI if you went Fighter 12/Rogue 8, but most subclasses in this split have pretty decent 13th level features, so I advocate the 13/7 split, usually in favor of Rogue for their Sneak Attack dice.
Thanks for sharing. When deciding whether to start Level 1 as fighter or rogue, we may need to look at the other party members. Their mix can often miss out on useful skills, and starting rogue offers extra skill proficiencies. This may not always play out in combat, but it could make adventuring more successful and safer.
And that is just one scenario. Other situations will greatly benefit from starting with fighter.
Excellent point. It's easy to just look at your own character, and not think about how it fits in with the group.
I'd lean more towards starting as a Rogue first for the extra skills, then going into fighter shortly after and trying to get Medium Armor Master Feat asap for the +3 Dex mod to AC and removing disadvantage from stealth in medium armor. Then try getting Breastplate or Halfplate and a shield soon so you can max out your AC against all those attacks you'd be getting with this build.
Two of my favorite subclasses. I am excited by this one.
spot on, but the defensive duelist melds better with maneuvers riposte and brace and it ages better as you advance...
Congratulations on the 1k subs... this character is going to be on my lvl 20 one shot thanks for the ideas dude
Thank you! And glad you enjoyed the build ideas.
6,8 and 10 will be really fun levels. I was worried that you were not going to mention feats when you just flew by stat bumps. I should have known better. Precision attack is amazing if you hate to miss as much as I do. If you don't hit your damage is zero. Loved the video.
nice build! i pretty much agree with most of the choices except mobile. i'd consider replacing that with martial adept and fighting initiate: superior technique for more martial arts dice. picking a maneuver like quick toss (make an attack with your bonus action) gives you another option for an off-turn sneak attack that doesn't rely on your enemy doing anything since you can sneak attack with your bonus action with a throwing weapon then ready your action to sneak attack on the next turn that comes up. since you're also melee attacking just once and playing a swashbuckler, might as well get magic initiate: find familiar and booming blade.
i think a better alternative for battlemaster if you know the campaign will have a lot of large+ creatures is going giant killer hunter ranger. that should give you a sustainable version for off-turn sneak attack whether the enemy hits or misses you (hunter) or if the enemy attacks your ally (sentinel). choosing ranger means you still have a fighting style, another expertise, favored foe + zephyr strike or hunter's mark to add to your dmg along with some good ranger spells like goodberry and speak with animals free 1/day.
Some great selections on that book shelf!
Thanks!
Panache + Maneuver: Commanding Presence.
I'd grab Linguist over Alert, to grab either as many generic OR exotic languages as possible, depending on setting.
Very few languages are helpful for communication in D&D, because the vast majority of creatures who can communicate either speak common or a couple other languages like giant. Most languages only aid you in reading. And with communication and reading, casters often have workarounds. Also, intelligence really doesn't do much for this character aside potentially bump investigation a tiny bit, and that's only if you invest in intelligence in the first place.
That said, this is just from an optimization standpoint. If it fits your character or a niche that makes you happy, go for it.
@@SmugslyTV Yeah, you could magic it. There's the Outlands Envoy who learns Tongues. I just like advocating & stockpiling language builds, mundanely. There's also a background feature, Anthropologist, that you could get away with mundanely.
One idea I had was some how obtaining booming blade from a feat or racial option. Then when you attack them they take extra booming blade and sneak attack damage, they stay put or they chase you triggering booming blade damage and you can use brace to get more sneak attack damage, and you can slip away because of rakish audacity.
I like fighter first because the fighting style and access to all martial weapons but my idea is a two rapier build
My idea is to go fighter first level then 3 levels rogue before jumping back to fighter
This works really well too, and it gives you the 10 hp + con mod at first level too, which is pretty nice.
ALERT / MOBILE / PIERCER / &
ELVEN ACCURACY...
I see this video is 2 years old, so dont know if ill get a response. Would you use booming blade with this build and if so how would you work it in. I know you want try to sneak attack more than anything.
If you wanted to go eldritch knight instead of battlemaster or arcane trickster instead of swashbuckler, those would be easy ways to add booming blade. You could also use feats or 1 level multi-classes in wizard, sorcerer, or warlock.
I like idea of using booming blade if you're planning on moving around the battlefield a bunch, or if you only have 1 attack. Once you start getting extra attack, booming blade can start to fall behind (although it comes back again at higher levels, once you start adding more 2 or 3 die + the potential move). One thing about this build too, is that if you did use booming blade with it, you could consider taking warcaster (I probably wouldn't bother unless I had enough levels in my casting class to make it worthwhile), because then you can use a cantrip instead of an opportunity attack. That cantrip can just be booming blade, which gives you the ability to sneak attack on someone else's turn but do it with booming blade which is even more damage, and now since they're moving they can take the 2nd instance of booming blade damage too. The problem is though, unless you have a reliable way to proc opportunity attacks (say Sentinel feat as an example), your DM may just never have them move. Also, you're getting pretty feat heavy. That all said though, it's certainly doable.
Great question.
You can get it from a race if you are OK with not getting a better level 1 feat from variant human
I think Shield Master deserves a mention for those who want to rock Heavy Armor and not pursue Rogue past 3.
For starters, you don’t need Trip Attack as much. You can take an Expertise in Athletics to bolster your chance to knockdown enemies AND can use a Pseudo pushing attack
You also get better dex saves to help patch up the lack of Evasion. Initiative isn’t an issue either because you’re adding Charisma to Initiative.
And shove is still an attack so Rakish still procks.
didn't get that rakish audacity still procs? did you mean you can sneak attack with a shove?
sure shield master deserves a mention though imo any build with extra attack wont need it as they can simply shove prone with their extra attack and keep the bonus action free for other stuff like cunning action. there's also better feats to lose out on as the opportunity cost.
Yes bonus action shield shove with athletics expertise. Brace when they come back
Not sure how/why heavy armor applies
All versions of this build could take this
@@TheRobversion1they don’t need cunning action for much. Swashbuckler already gets to move away without AoO. Better use of bonus action to free shove prone etc
Keep second attack for more damage or getting sneak when you miss.